Description
“Paysage ferroviaire” was thought and devised by Dorothée Selz. French artist, upon request from commissar Jean Dethier in 1978 for the exhibition “Le Temps des Gares” at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
Roving event. It first took place at the Centre Georges Pompidou, then in Bordeaux and Lyon. It then traveled in Europe: Milan, Brussels, Lausanne, and London.
Each time the exhibition had resounding impact.
This display of great sope gathered contemporary art work as well as thousand of historical documents pertaining to train stations and their expansion from 1830 to our days.
This work of Dorothée Selz was devised specially for this exhibition. Made in 8 parts put one after the other, it gave spectator playful vision of fantastic landscape where electric trains progressed. This lively “Paysage ferroviaire” displayed in the entrance of “Le Temps des Gares” invited at once visitors to imaginary travel in railway’s era.
This work of 14 meters of length is made of 8 sculpted parts entirely covered by a ciment put with pastry utensils, giving it play appearance. Each part show an imaginary landscape with rainbow colours, crossed by tracks, and tiny personages and animals. Then this other world’s dream illustrated one of themes of the exhibit: “Station: incentive to imagination”.
Dorothée Selz is born in 1946. She is part of the Eat Art movement of the seventies
where main artists such as Daniel Spoerri, Diter Rot, Arman and César, seeked to desanctify art by making it edible.
This “Paysage ferroviaire” is a major and unique work in the artistic and atypical career of Dorothée Selz.